We were doing ok until we opened all the schools....

[Bbq1]

After lockdown was lifted pre September and pubs, restaurants etc were opened we seemed to have a handle on Covid with cases, hospital admissions and deaths all declining fairly steadily. Since we released millions of school aged children and thousands of teachers etc back into the classroom- boom, cases and consequently deaths, are now growing very rapidly again. It didn't take a rocket scientist to work out that this would happen. I work in a school and I have a 15 year old starting his gcse's so I 100% don't want the schools to close but surely there must be a more workable solution? Couldn't schools be one week, one week off for different bubbles or alternate days? Nobody wants schools to shut but surely in the long term if we don't get something safer in place and just continue sending kids and adults in day after day, then eventually they will close again?

No one has described how half time would be half time with KW provision.

We’ve had use extra space in schools. But there must likely is none. So we’re left with hold KW etc in other community spaces with non teaching resource.

@Goingdooolally

As a secondary school teacher, blended learning is a nightmare. I teach at a private school with, in the main, engaged pupils with lots of good IT and support at home. Even these pupils struggled to fully take part, motivation was pretty low for some. Some off the radar completely.

My own kids who are dyslexic struggled. I found it difficult to find time in my working day to help them.

These are pupils with support. Those in less than ideal situations at home are doomed with blended learning.

This is another big issue. Even when blended working does involve teaching resource outside school it is sub optimal in many ways. Group engagement is difficult through a screen.

I’m open to other solutions of course, funding to help schools in other ways.

Not read the full thread, sorry - 16 pages, but it is the super-spreader events that need the most control and restrictions, and these don't seem to be in schools.
They seem to be in pubs/social clubs/house parties and airplanes so far.
And specifically in Bolton it was found that it was the young adult staff working in the hospitality sector who were catching and spreading it.

@Sossen

That's it you just blame the children for spreading this virus. I suppose it has nothing to do with 17-29 year olds going out to pubs and bars and having house parties and illegal raves, and nothing at all to do with full grown adults refusing to wear masks (when they're able to) not social distancing and regularly meeting with far to many people indoors. Children in this country have been through hell and back. They need school so please don't lay the blame on them or even the goverment for choosing to open schools. Don't get me wrong in general i think that BJ is an idiot but he got one thing right and that was getting kids back to school. Education is so important.

The best comment ever. Thank you.👏👏

Children in this country have been through hell and back. They need school so please don't lay the blame on them or even the goverment for choosing to open schools. Don't get me wrong in general i think that BJ is an idiot but he got one thing right and that was getting kids back to school

Wouldn’t it have been better if he got kids back to school in a sustainable way? Currently it’s chaos and not going to improve any time soon.

August has fucked us all up. Government encouragement to get everyone eating out. I don't understand it. How come people of 6 different households are sitting at one table not distanced? Don't restaurants have to check links between people? Eat out to help out encouraged so much mixing with people putting things in their mouths, chewing, talking in close range. I can't believe they are now blaming us.

Eotho was a stupid scheme and the odd restaurant I saw social distancing wasn't a thing. Out of the 4 local pubs I visited half asked me for track and trace. Plus a nearby secondary school has had a minor outbreak. Kids in schools are a priority, their education affects them for life. I concur masks should be worn in schools when not at desks and the kids hanging out on street corners not social distancing are an issue. What I am trying to say is there are a million things we could do to restrict the spread of the virus before we close schools again. We cannot afford the benefits bill by having so many unqualified people in the workplace for the next 50 years of their life and the affects it will have on their children.

Eat Out was pretty good here. Good mitigation inside. More tables outside.

Early day’s but our school seem really well organised, no positive cases so far.

Schools going back had also meant more parents going back to work, people are more comfortable using pubs etc (pound themselves saying they're getting busier) and I think for some an attitude of if the kids are back then there's no point so I'll do what I want, not as, not wear a mask etc

pom that there are no positive cases in your school is nothing to do with measures in your school or how well it is organised. Those measures will only be tested when there is a positive case as they’re about reducing transmission once covid is in the school.

My school hasn’t had any positive cases so far. We have been lucky.

@MarshaBradyo

Bluelinings fine don’t bother reading and quoting my post then if it is not interesting to you.

I have asked repeatedly what about KW best I’ve got back is - ‘work it out yourself’

Seems it’s a difficult issue.

I’m not saying work it out yourself. At all. I’m saying ask the people who know instead of guessing. I’m actually saying don’t work it out yourself and go with the worst case scenario

@noblegiraffe I feel like you pick apart anything I say.
I know some children have had tests which were negative.
I am allowed to say the school is organised, would you prefer I say something negative?

@noblegiraffe

pom that there are no positive cases in your school is nothing to do with measures in your school or how well it is organised. Those measures will only be tested when there is a positive case as they’re about reducing transmission once covid is in the school.

My school hasn’t had any positive cases so far. We have been lucky.

This is the point some people seem to be unable to grasp.

pom you appeared to be attributing the lack of cases to your school’s being well organised. It has nothing to do with them being well-organised. Whether a school gets a positive case or not is pretty much out of their control.

Realistically I think the only way is to close pubs or restrict hours severely (I.e lunch and dinner) and to close the schools (originally I was all for blended learning but the practicalities of it discussed on several threads seem to make this impossible) using distance learning. While distance learning is not ideal there have been great examples of it working. My colleague has 2 children in private school who had full timetable provision and it seems to have worked well in terms of ensuring education (additional provision for extreme needs would need to be provided).
The issue then is childcare... that is difficult to overcome but State provided child-care is not an entitlement but an added benefit of school. Child-care should be considered as a separate issue to education and additional facilities (churches, community centres etc.) could then be used to provide and children could be cared for in family groups rather than year groups reducing mixing.

@Pomegranatepompom

Early day’s but our school seem really well organised, no positive cases so far.

Same in my dc school, they seem much more organised than other schools local to me. We have staggered starts,staggered breaks and lunches, eating lunch in classrooms, wearing PE kits all day so no need to change, parents wear masks on drop offs, teachers wear visors when in closer contact . Whereas down the road at my DN school which has double the amount of pupils theres no staggered start times, they stagger lunchtimes but still all use the same hall, they get changed for PE. I know my dc school can't keep cases out but I feel they are doing their best to be able to contain any cases that do come in.

@noblegiraffe that was not my intent at all. I was just being nice about the school.
Honestly I give up.

I have not read all posts but the rise in cases is not to blame on schools opening
The majority of the cases in my local area that have been found in schools caught COVID outside school
According to Jason Leitch here in Scotland the numbers of people contracting COVID have got it from being in other people’s houses and from being in contact with someone in a pub / restaurant

Honestly, I don't see the point on obsessing over what's caused rising cases.

We have levels in the community now that are incompatible with functioning schools unless schools move to more risk reduction (as being done elsewhere). SD, masks.

Blue no I meant I had asked people in schools on here what about KW provision a fair few times already. The answer isn’t forthcoming because it is a difficult issue to resolve.

If you split to 15 and 15 for example but have 5 KW/v that need ft where do they go or who do they displace?

@BetterEatCheese

August has fucked us all up. Government encouragement to get everyone eating out. I don't understand it. How come people of 6 different households are sitting at one table not distanced? Don't restaurants have to check links between people? Eat out to help out encouraged so much mixing with people putting things in their mouths, chewing, talking in close range. I can't believe they are now blaming us.

To be fair, the guidance was to maintain social distance in pubs and restaurants with those outside your household/bubble.

If there were 6 people from different households sat around the same small table, that was against the guidelines, and yes, those people deserve any blame they get.

I have children in years 11&7. Of course they need their education but distancing should be compulsory whatever it takes to do that. It is ridiculous that we are told to wear masks & distance to nip into a shop for 10 mins when the children are crammed in 2 bubbles of 100+ with no masks/distance. Their mental health is suffering because they are terrified to be there- certainly not conducive to learning. Cases at both schools & I am now ill. Had my 90 yr old mother with us after lockdown as she had been completely alone 3 hrs drive away shielding since March & not managing- have now had to send her back as too risky having her with us & now quite frankly no prospect of being able to see her again. Just terrible.

@MarshaBradyo

Blue no I meant I had asked people in schools on here what about KW provision a fair few times already. The answer isn’t forthcoming because it is a difficult issue to resolve.

If you split to 15 and 15 for example but have 5 KW/v that need ft where do they go or who do they displace?

Surely the whole point of the 15/15 split is too keep bubbles separate if there's KW children in all the time mixing with both bubbles it could easily be spread to each bubble through them defeating the whole object of the smaller bubble in the first place.

@IloveJKRowling of course we need to know where the cases are coming from .

I’m sure restaurant and pub owners wouldn’t want these restrictions in place if cases were not being traced to them ??